


The Haunted Night

by Sodokachi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Slight blood and Language warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 22:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sodokachi/pseuds/Sodokachi
Summary: Marinette and Chat Noir are enjoying each other’s company on the day before Halloween when an akuma turns all of Paris into its own personal haunted house. They go on an adventure to find out why the akuma is attacking Paris and to figure out how to beat him.





	The Haunted Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmyNChan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyNChan/gifts).



 

"Claws out!"

Chat jumped out of his window and grinned as the wind washed over his face and ruffled his hair. He was heading over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery to see Marinette. It was the day before Halloween and she had been keeping her costume a surprise. He was hoping to at least get a glance at it, or maybe even just a hint as to what the costume would be about.

He stopped on a rooftop when he noticed someone walking down the street below him in an angry manner. He saw that the man was dressed in a blue jumpsuit and red ball cap. Deciding the odd outfit warranted a closer look Chat jumped down and put on his best superhero grin.

"Is there something wrong good citizen?" He asked as he channeled his inner hero.

The man glared at him. Now that Chat was closer he noticed the man had a grizzled face with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"The only thing wrong is the lack of good morals amongst the people of Paris." He frowned darkly.

Chat blinked in shock at the dark statement. "Why do you say that?" He asked curiously.

"They're shutting down the best damn haunted house in Paris to build housing." He grumbled. "Why do they got to do such a horrid thing?"

Chat frowned in sympathy but cringed at the man’s vulgarity. "That is unfortunate." He shifted uncomfortably at the man’s intense stare.

"What I wouldn't do for that Hawkmoth fella to fix this." He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and started playing with it.

"What? Hawkmoth is the bad guy!" Chat felt the need to point out.

"Don't matter to me kid." He lit the cigarette.

Chat grimaced and wrinkled his nose at the smell. "I'm going to go. Sorry about the haunted house!"

He used his baton to vault back onto the rooftops and breathed a sigh of relief. That guy weirded him out. Why in the world would anyone _willingly_ want Hawkmoth's help?

He landed on Marinette's balcony and rapped his knuckles against her skylight hatch.

"Come on in Chat!" He heard her call. He opened the hatch and dropped onto her bed. He shifted his feet so that they hung off the side. She preferred him not to get it messy with his leather boots.

Marinette's head popped up from where she was standing on the ladder. "Do you want something, Chat? Or are you just here for food? Again." She smirked haughtily.

Chat grinned. "Both. I want some of your infamous company and some of your finest pastries." He chuckled and the girl smiled.

"Coming right up your highness." She said dryly as she rolled her eyes.

She didn't move to get them and Chat pouted and glared into her eyes.

She returned the glare. Seconds turned into much longer as Chat struggled to keep his focus on her eyes. A blur of something pink darting in the corner of his eye had him blinking.

"Ha!" Marinette smirked victoriously. "I win." She hopped off the ladder and did a little victory dance.

He laughed. She was so cute when she was excited. He still wanted his pastries though.

He schooled his expression into a pitiful pout. "Does that mean I don't get any pastries?" He even managed to wiggle his lip like he was about to cry.

Marinette gaped at him. "Um. No I." He widened his eyes further. "Fine!" She caved. "I'll be right back. Don't touch anything!" She warned and left to go get them something to snack on.

As soon as she left Chat moved toward her sewing supplies and looked to see if he could find any clues to what she had been working on. The work bench was surprisingly untidy. He thought Marinette was more organized than this. Maybe it was because she was in a rush? Whatever the reason it made it impossible to find out anything about the outfit. He would just have to ask her directly.

He heard her coming up the stairs just in time to cross the room and lean against her chaise in his best ‘natural pose’. Which, considering he was a model, was actually pretty good.

She sat the plate of cookies down on her desk and he wasted no time in walking over and talking a big bite out of one. "tanks pincess!" He said with a mouthful of cookies.

She frowned. "Don't talk when you're eating." She grumbled and then glanced softly at him. "You’re welcome." She quirked her lips into a smile.

He beamed at her and finished off his first cookie. "So?"

Her brow furrowed. "So what?"

"What is the wonderful, amazing, and absolutely stunning-?"

"Cut to the chase Chat."

"-Princess wearing for the pawsome holiday tomorrow?"

She giggled. "Not telling!" She sing-songed the words.

He pouted in an attempt to get his way once more.

This time she just rolled her eyes. "Honestly Chat, do you really expect that to work-"

A sudden wave of darkness rolled through the room. Everything transformed as it traveled. Her chaise turned black, the cute grinning cat on her desk came alive, and her room was now lit by nothing more than some candles and the now glowing eyes of the grinning cat.

Chat looked around in dread. This was definitely an akuma's work. He glanced at Marinette and gaped. She was now dressed like a witch with a pointy hat and a long black dress.

"Do you have powers?" He asked the most important question first.

Marinette glared at him in annoyance. "No." She stared at him with a flat look on her face as he admired the coolness of her outfit.

When he didn't say anything else she sighed. "Shouldn't you be going after the akuma that caused this?"

Chat shook his head. "I can't just leave you here! What if it's dangerous?" He asked dramatically.

"Then we'll go together. Can't wait for Ladybug to fix things you know?"

"Of course." Chat nodded. "Let's go see if we can find the akuma, then you can hide while Ladybug and I deal with it."

Marinette agreed and they quickly left through the hatch.

As soon as they got outside it became hideously apparent that the whole of Paris had been caught up in the transformation. The streets looked like something right out of the middle ages, made of brick now instead of pavement, and the normal street lights had been turned into oil lampposts.

The river seine looked to have been transformed into blood and the Eiffel tower now looked like it was made of bones.

"Chat," Marinette stressed his name. "What in the world did this akuma _do_?"

He thought back to that weird guy. "I think... the akuma made Halloween come early."

His friend grimaced. "How in world do we find someone if they have changed the entirety of Paris already?"

Chat looked up. "Maybe we should try the bonefel tower?"

She stared at him. "That sounds like a purrfect idea." She smirked.

Chat grinned and gestured forward like a prince of yore. "Ladies and witches first."

"Good thing I'm both of those now." She said dryly.

* * *

They arrived at the tower after a few minutes of walking. Most people seemed to have already gone home. Although they had run into a couple that were running away from what they said was a 'terrifying ghost!'. They weren't sure if that meant the akuma was a ghost or what.

The answer became clear as they got closer to the base of the tower. Under the tower floated a pale eyeless man in a suit and jacket with a locket around his neck.

They glanced at each other knowingly. The akuma was in the locket.

Marinette watched as Chat pulled his baton out. "Stay here, Princess, I'm going to try to get that locket." He said as his face dropped into a much more serious expression.

She nodded and watched as Chat launched himself forward using his baton. She hoped he would be alright without Ladybug.

"Kick his butt, Chat!" She called out. He turned his head and grinned at her.

Just as Chat entered reaching distance the ghost quickly dodged and then flew away. Chat gave chase as quickly as he could. He jumped over several obstacles that had been cars, but now looked like some sort of death themed racers. He gained on the ghost as they moved towards some buildings. His fingers reached for the locket. He just about had it…

His hand passed right through along with the rest of his body a second later. He only realized there was a wall behind the ghost when he rammed face first into it. To add insult to injury the ghost let out cackling wail as it fled.

Marinette came running up to him and put his head in her lap. "Are you alright?!" She asked worriedly.

Chat looked up at her dazedly. "I'm as good as a kitten drenched in butter."

Marinette's eyes crossed. "What? That doesn't even make any sense."

His eyes closed.

Thankfully, Marinette could still feel his warm breath on her hands. She took off her hat to talk to Tikki. "What do we do now?" She whispered.

"You'll have to wait for him to wake up, Marinette. He's tough so there won't be enough time to do anything before he does." Tikki glanced at the small bruise that was already fading on Chat's head. "Not that you'd leave him alone anyway." The little Kwami smiled.

"Yeah." Marinette murmured softly in agreement. "Guess I'll just have to wait."

Tikki nodded and then hid back under her hat.

Marinette passed the time by mussing with Chat's fake ears.

* * *

Chat blinked lazily. That had been the best nap he could ever remember having. He purred at the feeling of the fingers running through his hair. The hands abruptly stopped and he opened his eyes to pout at Marinette.

"Why'd you stop?"

She stared at him. "Are you an actual cat, because I swear you just freaking purred." She shook her head. "Am I losing my mind?" She wondered.

Chat laughed and sat up. "Nope. I purr when I'm really happy as Chat Noir. Purretty cool eh?" He elbowed her gently in the side. "Eh?" He poked her again.

She shoved him smoothly away from her. "If by cool you mean an affront to all that is holy, then sure, I guess." She tried to frown, but ended up smiling instead.

He grinned back at her. "So, where'd the akuma run off to?" He looked around to see if he could spot it.

"Don't know and it doesn't matter." She said and he turned his eyes back to her. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? I need to catch up to it. Ladybug is probably already fighting it."

Her eyes softened at the mention of Ladybug. "We need to figure out why the akuma can just phase through things and hopefully how to stop it from doing it again. Well, at least long enough for u-Ladybug and you to beat it."

Chat frowned. "And how are we going to do that?"

Marinette slumped. "I don't know. If only we knew why this guy had been akumatized, but he didn't even say anything!"

Chat smiled reassuringly at her. "I met a guy earlier that said they were shutting down a haunted house and he even said Hawkmoth should do something about it."

She looked at him and grinned. "Well there's our lead then!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him. "Let's go! I think I know where the haunted house you're talking about is!"

He let her pull him down the street with a bemused smile on his face.

* * *

As they neared the haunted house they noticed a man dressed in rich clothing looking rather bothered. They glanced at each other and nodded.

"Sir!" Marinette waved him over. "We would like to talk to you please."

The man grumbled, but he still acquiesced. "What is the meaning of this? The entire world has gone mad and there's a ghost attacking people." He turned his eyes on Chat and glared. "Aren't you supposed to be fixing things?"

Chat frowned. "Yes sir, and we may need a little bit of info from you to do exactly that."

The man snorted. "Yes, yes. You must need some information because it seems Paris is lacking its true hero."

Marinette seethed. "Don't say that about him you-!" Chat pulled her back as she tried to lunge forward. She struggled in his grip. "Not now, Marinette, please." Marinette stop struggling, but continued to glare at the man. Chat let her go and sighed.

The man looked at the girl with surprise. "She's a feisty one." He muttered. "Fine. What do you need to know?"

Chat straightened up. "Do you know anything about that haunted house?" He pointed just down the street at the old and rickety looking haunted house. It had a small sign saying it was out of business on the door.

The man blinked in surprise. "Why yes, yes I do. I just bought this run down establishment so I could build a nice new house on the land." He nodded pleasantly.

"You bought it?" Chat mumbled. "The ghost is probably after you." He said strongly.

The man's eyes widened in surprise and horror. "Why in the world would it be after me?"

"The haunted house shutting down disappointed a lot of people." Marinette said quietly.

The man grimaced. "Shoot. I need to hide then. Any more questions oh illustrious hero?" He rolled his eyes.

Chat just shook his head and watched the man leave.

"What a jerk." Marinette grumbled as she crossed her arms and glared at his retreating back.

He didn't disagree. "We still don't know enough." his eyes flicked back toward the haunted house. "Let’s see if we can find anything else out from the house itself."

She nodded.

They arrived at the large haunted house and were surprised by the man sitting on the curb outside of it. His clothes were a mixture of greys and blacks and looked like they were made up of rags.

Chat looked at him in concern. "You feeling alright?"

The man looked up at them with cold grey eyes. "You're Chat Noir." He sighed. "What do you need?" He asked softly.

"Well," Marinette gave him a polite smile. "We were wondering if you knew anything about the sale of this haunted house." She pointed to the house behind him.

He frowned darkly. "I do know." He glanced at the house forlornly. "My name is Louis and I own... owned that house."

Marinette and Chat shared a glance. They were finally getting somewhere, hopefully.

"Until that damnable Alexandre came I managed this place perfectly well." He ranted. "But no! This grade a jerkoff just shows up and runs me out of business, smug self-centered little-!"

"Who is Alexandre?" Chat cut in. He glanced worriedly at Marinette whom had covered her ears.

Louis snorted. "Alexandre is the man who stole my business."

Marinette uncovered her ears cautiously. "The buyer?" Chat asked.

"Yeah." Louis muttered. "That guy needs to pay somehow."

Chat frowned. "You may just get your wish. Hawkmoth's akuma is most likely after him."

Louis grinned. "Tch. Serves him right."

Marinette growled. "What is wrong with you?! This is a man’s life we're talking about!"

He scoffed. "Who cares! The guy forced me into a position where I would have to sell! He ain't worth sh-"

"Enough." Chat said clearly. "Thank you for your time."

With that said Chat gently grasped Marinette's hand and pulled her away from the infuriating man. He didn't stop until they were in front of the door to the haunted house.

"You alright Princess?" Chat asked in concern.

Marinette shook her head. "I just hate people like that." She grumbled. "I feel like he should have been the akuma. It would have made sense."

Chat hummed in agreement and then turned to the door. "Think we should go inside?"

Marinette nodded and Chat reached out and turned the door knob.

"Chat Noir! Give me your Miraculous!" The ghost screamed. It flew over the rooftops and started circling the two teenagers.

Chat took a step in front of Marinette. "What's up ghost? Besides you anyway." He smirked.

The ghost wailed. "I am not ghost, I am _Plutus_!" He then dived towards them.

Chat dove forward while swinging his baton. As he expected the baton went straight through Plutus and hit the ground with a loud clank. "Still can't hit him." He muttered. He turned his head and his eyes widened in alarm.

Plutus flew quickly toward Marinette with a wicked grin. She yelped and dodged to the side, rolling into the dead grass lawn of the haunted house. Plutus shot straight through the door.

"You alright, Marinette?" Chat looked worried.

She groaned and stood up. She looked down at the grass stains on her witch outfit. "I'm fine, Chaton, and also glad that I'm not wearing my regular clothes." She picked at her clothes.

Chat smiled in relief. "That's go-"

Plutus screeched as he shot out from the top window of the house. "You can't take my home from me!"

Chat growled in frustration. "We're not trying to!" He yelled.

"Lies!" Plutus dived towards them again. Chat readied his baton to try and strike at him again and Marinette hid a couple feet behind him.

This time Chat smoothly spun his baton in the hope it would somehow clip the untouchable ghost. Plutus laughed as he went straight through his baton and then Chat himself a brief moment later. Chat shuddered at the cold feeling of the ghost moving through him before his eyes widened in sudden concern. "Marinette!"

Marinette tried to dodge as she had earlier but Plutus was too fast. He clipped her shoulder as he shot past her sending her sprawling into the ground face first. Her pointy witch hat fell to the side and landed next to her.

Plutus shot up into the air as he prepared to dive at Marinette again. Chat moved to stand over her protectively and raised his hand above his head. "Cataclysm!" Dark power coiled into his hand. He pointed it straight at Plutus.

He glared at the ghost. "I won't let you hurt my friend again you good for nothing ghost!"

Plutus laughed and started to dive towards him. He aborted his dive halfway as Hawkmoth's sigil materialized on his face. He seemed to argue with him for a moment before screaming in frustration. He then flew away quickly, disappearing amongst the rooftops.

Chat glared after him until he heard Marinette groan behind him. He quickly dispersed his Cataclysm using a nearby bush and kneeled down to check his friend.

He put his hand on her shoulder as she shifted herself into a sitting position. "Are you alright Princess?" He asked softly, concern shining in his eyes.

She kept the side of her face covered with her hands. "Hurts." She whimpered.

Chat's face grew more worried. He shifted his hand from her shoulder to her uncovered cheek. "Can I see it, Marinette?" He asked gently. His other hand came to gently pull her hands away. With little resistance he managed to move them far enough away from her face to see the damage.

Chat would normally describe Marinette's face as cute, maybe even adorable, but right now it could only be described as an ugly patchwork of reds and blues. One of her eyes was sealed shut by the bruise slowly forming around it, her cheek was scraped badly and her forehead had a curved cut along her brow. Her nose dripped a little bit of blood that he quickly caught with his gloved hand. He glanced down to where her head had hit and grimaced as he realized that she had clipped the sidewalk leading up to the house with her face.

Chat looked in her good eye as he gently cradled her face in his hands. "Marinette, do you have any bandages?"

Marinette made another sound of pain. "Yeah." She groaned. "There's some in my purse."

Chat grimaced. "You didn't bring your purse." He glanced around the neighborhood. "I see what used to be a convenience store. I'll be right back. Okay, Marinette?"

Once she nodded in agreement, he shot off towards the store. It looked like a gothic church with the words 'Convenience Today!' plastered on the top of it in stone letters. As he grabbed the bandages off the shelf he memorized the location so he could come back later and pay. He grabbed a bit of antiseptic as well and started heading back.

"Stupid! How could you let her get hit you idiot!" He muttered to himself.

He arrived to see her muttering something to herself that sounded suspiciously like Ladybug. He grimaced. Of course she wished Ladybug was here. If she had been here Marinette wouldn't have gotten hurt like she had under his protection.

He landed softly next to her and she glanced up at him in surprise. She was once again covering the damage with her hands.

He gently removed them as he held the bandages up to her. "I'm going to patch you up the best I can. If that's alright with you?"

Marinette looked a little confused at his question. "Of course that's alright." She huffed.

Chat let out a little, almost pained, chuckle. "It's nice to see you haven't lost your fiery spirit." He said dryly.

She tried to roll her eyes and then hissed in pain. "That hurt." She whimpered.

Chat's face twisted in guilt. "Alright, let me bandage you before you end up hurting yourself." He said softly.

He cleaned her cheek with the cotton swabs that had come with the bandages until her cheek looked a little less red. He applied a bit of antiseptic to the bandage and then gently applied it to the mass of red on her cheek. She hissed a bit at the feeling of the antiseptic and this time she noticed when he winced guiltily.

Marinette frowned and stared at him with her one good eye. "Chat, I know what you're thinking and this isn't your fault." She stated strongly.

Chat just grimaced and started cleaning up her black eye. He wouldn't be able to bandage it up, but he could hopefully stop her from getting an infection. He dabbed a cotton swab into the antiseptic. Just as he was about to start applying it Marinette stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Chat." She glared at him with her good eye and he looked away from her. "Look at me Chat." She grabbed his cheeks with her hands and forced him to look at her. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault!" She pushed and pulled on his cheeks as she spoke. She let him go.

"Ow." He muttered. He rubbed his abused cheeks and frowned at her. "Was that entirely necessary?"

Marinette almost scowled before remembering her bruises and settled for frowning sternly instead. "Stop feeling guilt over things that aren't your fault and then I won't need to do that."

"Fine." He pouted. "I still need to do your eye." He muttered.

"Not until you admit it's not your fault." She said stubbornly.

He sighed. "I know it's not." He gave her a soft glance. "I just feel like you’re my responsibility, Marinette." He shrugged. "I'll try not to feel guilty, okay?" He said uneasily.

Marinette sighed. "Guess that's the best I'm getting." She muttered. "Go on now." She gestured to his hand that held the swab.

He gently dabbed around her eye and she tried her best to hold in her hisses of pain. He finished applying another bandage on her head cut and one across her nose. One he was done he put all of the leftover bandages in the bag the bandages had originally been in and picked it up.

"So, what now?" She asked curiously.

He grimaced and glanced down at his ring. "Right now you're going to hang here while I go recharge. I'll see you in less than five." He gave her a pleading look. "Please stay out of trouble Princess."

She cringed. "Ugh. I tried to roll my eyes again. Just go Chaton. I'll be fine." She smiled reassuredly.

He smiled hesitantly and then quickly moved away.

As soon as he was gone she picked up her pointy witch hat and put it back on her head. She then turned to talk to the kwami. "We should see if there's anything in that haunted house that could explain this akuma."

Tikki beamed at her. "Let's do it!"

* * *

Adrien sighed. "Hurry up Plagg. We need to get back to Marinette as soon as possible."

Plagg glared at him. "The best cheese cannot be eaten in a rush, Adrien, you should know better."

"I've seen you eat an entire wheel in one bite!" Adrien argued.

Plagg just rolled his eyes at him.

Adrien grimaced and was about to start grumbling when he heard two voices arguing. He vaguely recognized the voices as the buyer and seller from earlier. What were their names again?

"Leave me be Louis! I paid you plenty enough for that house of yours." Right the sellers name was Louis.

"Screw you Alexandre, you lying sack of-" Right! The buyers name was Alexandre and he totally hadn't needed them to tell him to figure it out!

Plagg shook his small head. "Idiot." He said as he swallowed the last bit of his cheese.

Adrien frowned. "They're getting too close Plagg, hide." Plagg darted into his waistcoat.

Adrien took a deep breath. His pirate clothes were not helping his confidence. "...Even if the brown waistcoat looks cool." He mumbled to himself.

He moved closer to the two men so that he could listen in. Maybe they would say something they weren't willing to say to Chat and Marinette.

"You can't do this to me, Alexandre. My wife-" Louis groused.

"Your wife is the only reason I bought the stupid thing!" Alexandre griped.

"I want my house back!" Louis yelled.

"Too bad! You're not getting it back. Now if you'll excuse me, I was just leaving until this whole akuma thing dies down." Alexandre and Louis parted ways after that with Louis muttering darkly under his breath while clutching at the rags near his chest and Alexandre with his chin held up high.

Adrien frowned. "What in the world is up with those two?"

Plagg came back out of his waistcoat. "The better question is: Where is Ladybug?" He asked with an annoyed expression.

Adrien blinked. "I... don't know?" He frowned again. "I hope she gets here soon. I bet her Lucky Charm would be helpful." He sighed. "She's smarter to and stronger. She wouldn't have let Marinette get-" Plagg growled and then flicked his head.

"That Marinette girl is right. You need to stop blaming yourself and focus on the task at hand." Plagg said wisely.

Adrien stared at him in surprise. "I guess even you can sound smart occasionally Plagg."

"Exactly. Wait." Plagg looked at him in confusion. "D-did you just insult me?"

"Nope." Adrien rolled his eyes. "I was just saying how great you are!" He smirked.

Plagg looked at him skeptically. "...Good then." He nodded in satisfaction.

"Let’s get back to Marinette. I don't like leaving her for too long when there's an akuma around." He thrust his hand into the air and posed. "Claws out!"

* * *

Marinette searched throughout the surprisingly boring haunted house, even if the outside looked so lackluster, she still had had hope there was something of interest inside. She expected more than just a couple of skeletons and fake candles. She had already searched the upper rooms and the bottom floor without finding a thing. So when she stumbled upon a cellar door with a lock on it she had to stomp down her grin of excitement. She still needed to find Plutus’s weakness after all.

"Tikki can you-?"

Her Kwami was already ahead of her. She unlocked the wooden door and grinned happily at Marinette. "Done!"

Marinette smiled. "Good job, Tikki." She patted her kwami on the head.

Once inside she looked around and frowned when she saw (or didn’t see) how dark it was. Tikki beamed brightly. No wait she was actually beaming, like a lightbulb, and moved deeper into the cellar.

Marinette grinned at her little friend. "You're the best, Tikki!"

Tikki giggled. "I try~"

Marinette looked around. There were a couple of barrels and old furniture. A couple of old fake skeletons and a single desk.

Tikki sat down on the desk. "Marinette, there's a book over here!"

Marinette made her way over with a curious look on her face. She sat down at the desk and looked at the book. It didn't have a title and its cover was made of a tough red leather. It was also incredibly small and unused. She doubted there would be much of anything written in it.

She opened it and noticed no one had signed their name. She sighed. "Guess I'll just have to read it."

 

_Dear Journal,_

_My wife has given this to me along with a locket. I have decided to humor her this once about writing in you. Since I need to be down here for more than a minute I suppose I should tell you about my day._

_This is our tenth anniversary and we spent it joyfully. Even though we have failed to have any children I believe we are as happy as a couple can be. Especially as I took her out for a fancy dinner and we spent the evening walking along the Seine._

_When we arrived back my wife gave me this journal and the locket. While the journal seems a little strange the locket is actually an old one of mine. I had given it to her on our first anniversary. It broke a while back and we had never gotten around to fixing it._

_It is amazing that such an old thing has transformed so much over the course of our lives. I'm happy to have it back._

 

 _Transformed?_ She frowned. Was that it? She flipped the paged and found little aborted attempts to write on more normal days until one day he wrote another full(ish) entry.

 

_Dear Journal,_

_My wife has passed away. This journal and her locket is the last of the things I have left of her._

_The locket will forever remind me of her. I have decided to sell everything of ours in Paris and move away. An old friend of mine has agreed to buy this place._

_I miss my wife._

Marinette stared at the last sentence.

"Are you alright, Marinette?" Tikki asked worriedly.

"I think so Tikki." She said softly. "It's just sad that this man lost his wife."

Tikki hugged her uninjured cheek. "You’re so kind Marinette!" She smiled.

Marinette smiled back at her. They both started when they heard a yowl.

"He's back." Marinette murmured. She would have transformed if he hadn't already been diving through the ceiling above her.

"Leave!" Plutus screeched. "That is not yours!"

Marinette dived out of the chair. She didn't wait to see Plutus go straight through the chair and then the floor. Tikki darted to hide under her hat as Marinette left the cellar. As she exited she heard Plutus screech again and threw herself up against a wall just in time for Plutus to shoot out of the floor where she had been standing. Without watching him once again disappear through the ceiling she started running towards the front door.

Right before she reached the door the ghost floated down from the ceiling and blocked her. "Now now, little girl, you’re in my house touching my things. You need to be punished." He said scathingly.

Marinette's uncovered eye darted around as she tried to figure a way out of the house. "Mind getting out of the way for me, Plutus?" She asked with a small smirk.

Plutus laughed. "Dumb questions all you got now, eh? Where's your pet kitty now, girl?"

"That'd be behind you ghosty." Chat as he jumped through the ghost and picked up Marinette in a bridal carry. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he ran up the stairs. They could both hear Plutus scream in frustration as he tried to follow.

Chat ran through the main hallway on the second floor and held Marinette up with one arm as he used the other to throw his baton at a window. It shattered and a moment later Chat jumped through it with both his arms and body coiled protectively around Marinette.

He landed on one knee and reached out with his hand to catch his falling baton. He used it to immediately shoot them onto the nearest rooftop.

He covered distance quickly as he made to get as far away from Plutus as possible. He ended up on Marinette's balcony. The haunted light of several candles lit up the balcony in an orange glow.

He put her down. "Are you-?"

"Yes, Chat." She rolled her one good eye. Seeing his put out look she sighed. "I'm fine Chat. Thanks for the save." She said softly.

He lost the look and smiled. "No problem, Princess."

"What took you so long anyway?" She asked curiously.

"I ran into Alexandre and Louis having an argument about the sell." He told her. "Louis brought up his wife and Alexandre said that's why he bought the haunted house in the first place." Chat shrugged. "I wish Ladybug was here. She could probably figure this all out."

Marinette's brow furrowed in thought. "She probably already di-would have figured it out, Chaton."

"That doesn’t matter though." Chat nodded to himself.

She blinked, which looked more like a wink with only one eye. "Why not?" She asked.

"I'm going to Cataclysm the locket." He explained. "He seems to fear it, so hopefully it will work."

Marinette bit her lip to stop herself from disagreeing. "I guess I'll stay here then. So I won't be in any danger!" She smiled brightly at him. "This time kick his butt for real, Chat." She patted him on the shoulder.

Chat chuckled. "Can do Princess!" He vaulted off her roof with a jaunty salute.

Tikki popped out of hat as she watched Chat move back towards the haunted house. "Ready to transform Marinette?"

Marinette grinned. "I was born ready, Tikki. Spots on!" With a flash of light Ladybug went swinging after her partner.

* * *

Ladybug arrived just in time to see Chat Noir being thrown into the Seine.

Plutus hovered over the river, cackling, and was jeering down at Chat. He turned his body toward her. “Oh? The bug finally shows up to the party!” He laughed.

Chat dragged himself out of the river and Ladybug let out a sigh of relief. She tuned to Plutus and started spinning her yoyo. “This isn’t really the kind of party I like.” She smirked. “My kind of parties have fewer stupid ghosts.” She told him.

Plutus scoff echoed through the air. “Spare me the inane retorts. You’re sidekick has already made enough of them.”

She scowled and winced slightly. “He is my partner, not my sidekick.” She said flatly.

“He’s trash.” Plutus snickered. “He couldn’t even protect his little friend.” He grinned viciously.

Chat Noir used his baton to jump over to Ladybug. “Maybe not,” He said with a lopsided smile. “But I’m still gonna kick your butt.”

He looked over at Ladybug and did a double take. “My Lady you…?”

She smiled at him. “Sorry I’m late, Chaton.”

He shook his head as if to clear it and his look turned determined. “What’s the plan?”

She smiled grimly. “I managed to run into Marinette before I got here and I think we figured this guy out.”

Plutus laughed and both of them turned to him. “Figured me out? What does that even mean?” He sneered. “Stupid brats.”

Ladybug smirked. “Really Louis? Surely you can do better than that.”

Plutus froze. “How?!”

“Marinette found that journal of yours.” She told him. “A locket that transforms the user at will isn’t that strange for an akuma.”

Chat glanced at her. “Is he doing this because he got run out of business?” He questioned.

She shook her head sadly. “He wanted to sell it because it reminded him of his late wife.” She turned and frowned at the akuma. “He regretted his decision and Hawkmoth took advantage of him shortly after.”

“That _is_ some impressive detective work, but-” Chat gestured his baton towards the hovering Plutus. “How are we going to actually get the locket?”

“He has to become tangible to hit us.” She looked at him with regret. “One of us is going to have to be bait.”

Plutus laughed. “I do like some tasty bait.” He grinned.

Ladybug shook her head at his words. “Follow my lead, Chat.”

“Of course, My Lady.” He smirked.

Ladybug threw her yoyo and swung herself in an arc towards the akuma. Chat ran towards the akuma from the other side.

“Pointless!” Plutus snarled.

“Lucky Charm!” She shouted and blinked at the large cloth she had been given. “I know what to do.” She smirked. Chat stopped and stared at her. “What do you need me to do?”

Her smirk widened. “Get ready to grab the locket.” He nodded.

“Hey Louis! You suck!” Chat looked at her like she was crazy. “It’s too bad you’re such a boring akuma. Maybe if you were more interesting I would have shown up sooner.”

She held the cloth and both hands as she watched Plutus shake in anger. “What’s wrong? Bug got your tongue?”

He screamed and flew straight at her.  She held the cloth out. “Come on! I’m not even going to defend myself!” She glanced at Chat. “Chat, use Cataclysm!”

He did as she asked just as the ghost reached her. She dodged to the side and let go of the cloth. Plutus yelled in frustration as got tangled up in it. He phased through it and turned towards the smirking Ladybug. “How dare you-!” Ladybug pointed down. He blinked and looked down just in time to see Chat. He was holding on to his extended baton as he reached out to grab Plutus’s locket with the same hand that held Cataclysm.

“No!” He yelled and tried to move away. He was too late and had to watch as the locket disintegrated. The akuma floated out of the remains as Chat caught the now tangible and non-floating Louis.

“Bye-bye little butterfly!” She smiled as the now purified butterfly flew away.

She grabbed the cloth off the ground and threw it into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The wave of red and black scattered across Paris and changed everything back to normal. Some of it even ran around Ladybug’s head and healed her scrapes and bruises.

She held out her fist towards Chat Noir and smiled confidently. He completed the fist-bump with a soft smile on his face. “Pound it.” They said at the same time.

Beep beep. “That’s my queue to bug out!” She said cheerfully. She quickly swung away with her yoyo.

Chat sighed and smiled. “See you in a minute.” He murmured.

* * *

The large glass door to Hawkmoth’s inner sanctum closed as the purified akuma came to rest on his shoulder.

He glared darkly at the ground. “Curse you. If it wasn’t for that meddling hat girl I would have won. Next time you won’t be so lucky.” He clenched his fist in front of him and scowled. “Next time I shall have your Miraculous! Ladybug!”

* * *

Marinette grinned as she put the finishing touches on her costume for Halloween. Chat would be in for a shock when he sees it for sure.

A knock sounded on her hatch and she quickly hid the ensemble in her closet. Tikki hid as she called for Chat to let himself in.

Chat tumbled down from her bed and grinned at her. “Hey Prince-” he yawned mid-greeting.

She smiled at him. “Hey Chat Noir, long day?” She giggled.

He chuckled. “You were there.” He reminded her calmly.

She blinked. “Well, it was tiring for me too.”

He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I meant…” He shook his head as if to clear it. “Are you feeling better now?” He asked smoothly.

“I’m purrfectly fine now, Chat Noir.” She smiled coyly. “When you defeated him that light came and fixed me up.”

Chat smiled tiredly. “I’m glad you’re feeling good enough to steal my puns, Princess.”

“Your face okay from that run in with the wall you had earlier?” She asked a flash of concern on display in her bluebell eyes.

He nodded. “My face is magnificent, as always.” He said cheekily.

They both smiled and stood there for a moment, just enjoying the companionable silence.

Marinette glanced at the time. “You should probably go, Chat. It’s really late.”

“Of course, Princess. Have a good night.” He smiled and bowed. He hopped up to her bed and was about to leave through the hatch when Marinette stopped him to say something.

“Chat… Thanks for keeping me safe.” She said softly with her hands clasped in front of her.

Chat grinned widely. “That’s my job,” He jumped through the hatch and landed on her balcony. “My Lady.” He whispered and then leapt off into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest oneshot I've ever written. Someone should go back in time and tell me younger self that editing 7k words is harder than writing them.
> 
> This is also the third gift fic I've written so I tried something a little different. Instead of trying to figure out what the person likes by snooping around I instead just used Tumblr and anonymously asked about various things to get a better feel of it. I hope that means this will be closer to what AmyNChan wants out of a gift fic. Or it will fall flat on its face and no on will read it.
> 
> Man, sometimes I get really broody.
> 
> Oh! Also the costume Marinette made doesn't really matter, but I like to imagine it is an exact replica of Chat's outfit. He's so going to pass out when he sees Marinette, who he now knows is Ladybug, in it. :D


End file.
